Lithium Ion Battery Powered Woodworking Tools
My husband, Dave, normally writes the articles here on our web site, but this time I wanted to talk to the other women woodworkers who view this site. Hi I’m Jo, and while Dave does most of the actual construction of our projects, he and I share a lot of the finishing work. In fact a lot of times, I do the finish work during the week while Dave is away doing his 9-5 thing.
Now I really enjoy the finish work, but I don’t always like the tools that he has in the shop. There are several cordless tools that we use for finishing, and they do a great job, but changing the batteries has always been a problem. On some of the tools I have a real problem getting my hand all the way around the battery to get the battery to release. It’s not that I have small hands, the tools are just not user friendly.
This past weekend we were in one of the local DIY stores, and we went through the tool section ( His idea, not mine), and being a typical guy, he got excited about some of the new cordless tools. While he was explaining all the benefits of the Lithium Ion Battery and the added power it provides, I found myself more impressed with the size and weight of the tools. We looked at several brands of cordless tools, and most were very comfortable to hold, and the batteries didn’t require hands the size of the Incredible Hulk to change.
While this may sound strange, this is one time I wouldn’t actually mind if he were to start replacing his older cordless tools.
He wrote an article on our main site extolling all the benefits of Lithium Ion batteries. If you’d like to read it, here’s the link. Lithium Ion Battery Powered Woodworking Tools
As a woman in woodworking, I’d like to hear from those of you who have had a chance to use or see the new smaller cordless tools. What do you think of them?
Woodworking 101 for Women
I have always been a proponent of getting more women involved in woodworking. Women are just as skilled and artistic as their male counter parts. Now, I am not smart enough to debate whether it’s an issue of genetics or upbringing or social pressures. But maybe it’s just a matter of women not knowing where to go to get started.
I know as a long time woodworker, it is hard for me to find relevant information on new techniques or tools. Sure there is a lot of information, but a lot of it is either rhetoric or condescending. When I find a good book, I treasure it and pass it on to others, the name not the book. With that thought in mind, I have been on the look out for a serious book on woodworking that is nether full of rhetoric or written in a condescending nature.
Well I think I may have found one. Woodworking 101 for Women: A Complete Guide: How to Speak the Language, Buy the Tools & Build Fabulous Furniture from Start to Finish
have been very positive, surprisingly, some from men who had purchased the book for themselves. One of the reviews I found most interesting was from a guy, who says if it’s good enough for a women then men should use it too.
Does the book make a new female woodworker a master craftsman, of course not, no book can do that. What it can do is explain some of the technical jargon that is part of the woodworking world, and may give that one women who has the next great design idea, enough confidence to try it.
If there was one issue I could take with the book, it is that some of the projects maybe beyond the ability of a new woodworker. Cutting interlocking dovetails and through mortises may not be for the novice woodworker, female or male. I don’t want anyone interested in woodworking to get turned off when just started because their first project was too difficult. But that aside, the projects are first class, the designs refreshing and the information great. I think this is a keeper for all woodworkers, not just the women.